Ethnic Minority People you may meet on the Tour.

Dong ( also called Kam)

The Dong are believed to be descendants of an ancient people, the Liao, who inhabitated Southern China and pre-dated the Han, the modern Chinese. Their highly tonal language is from the Tai-Kadai language family, which includes Thai and Lao, possibly showing that there are cultural links with the Dong people South East Asian ethnic people.There are 2 main groups, North and South Dong: their languages differ though they have the same origins.

Dong "clans" are divided into 4 descending goups, with "households" the smallest group. The villages traditionally were govened by village leaders, all male, these days called village heads.

Dong have many interesting customs, many relating to the cycles of human life: courtship, marriage, birth and death.

Traditionally, Dong courtship begins with couples reciting poems and singing songs to each other in a group. As the relationship deepens, they sing spontaneously, and one on one. The third phase is when the suitor offers a love token, something of relatively little value, but highly important, as it represents an engagement ring. The intended is expected to test the suitor, to ensure that his intentions are genuine. Weddings are a 3-day affair, but the wife may still live at her parent's house for months, or even longer.

Births too are highly ritualised: the first person to enter a home after a baby is born will influence the child's future. Trees are planted- fir trees- which will reach maturity when the child is 18, and used for a marital home. The childs hands are wrapped to stop it from stealing later on. It will have it's first haircut at 1 month.

When a Dong person dies, the body is washed, then covered with wet paper money. A red rooster is sacrificed. The person is placed in a coffin which is then taken high into the mountains. Later, the sons of the one who has died will breate a buriel mound over the coffin and entreat the occupant to " go back home", to the family altar in the village.

The Dong are famous for their polyphonic singing, particularly that known as the Grand Song, or Kgal Laox.

Yao also called Mien or Dao

Yao people are also known as Mien and Dao, and there are other names, and sub-groups of this ethnic grouping. The origins can be traced back at least 2,000 years, to Hunan Province. The yao and Hmong were enemies of the Han Chinese and as the Han migrated South, the Yao moved South too, to Guizhou, Guangdong and Guangxi Province Provinces. In time they moved into the border regions of Vietnam, Thailand and Laos.

Yao people follow the way of Tao or Dao-ism. Some say that there beliefs have an influence which pre-dates Taoism, and that perhaps Buddism is also an influence.

Their culture is based on farming, with at least 1,000 years of rice cultivation behind them. Plowing, and "slash and burn", are methods of cultivation. In mountainous areas, hunting supplements their diet. They are patrilineal traditionally, a son inherits from his father, and cousin to cousin marriages are common.

As there are many branches of the Yao, there are many types of traditional clothing. Many wear dark blue clothes made from cloth dyed with indigo. But Hong Yao favour red. Men wear short shirts and wrap around pants. Women wear pleated short skirts embroidered with unique designs.

Their language belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family, but is worth noting that it is Yao and Han girls who learned the distinctive Nu Shuo writen "language of women", which was found in just a small number of villages and towns in Southern China.

Zhuang Minority

The Zhuang Minority group is second to Han (Chinese majority) in numbers. Most live in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Their language has been revived in recent times. It belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family, a branch of Zhuang-Dong Austronesian called Zhuang-Dai. Their language was written using Chinese characters, but more recently, the Latin Alphabet has been used and many books in the Zhuang language have been published.

The food of the Zhuang people is diverse. They eat all kinds of meat- pork, mutton, beef and chicken, with staples being rice and corn. Fresh vegetables are also enjoyed, though poached and pickled vegetables are favourites.

If a guest visits, the whole village honours him. Wine is part of the welcome, and the Zhuang have a unique way of drinking it, linking arms and drinking from each others spoon.

Older people are respected by not eating until they have begun to eat.

As far as clothing goes, it may differ a bit from area to area. The men's clothes don't differ too much from Han people's clothes. There are many styles for the women, in the North, they wear a collarless embroidered jacket buttoned on the left, with loose wide pants. Or pleated skirts and embroidered belts. Women in the southwest wear collarless jackets buttoned on the left, and black square head coverings, and loose pants. They wear silver ornaments in their hair and on their person.

Zhuang women are skilled weavers, and embroiderers. Zhuang brocade is renowned for its colour, durability and practicality. Batik-style dyeing with wax is also popular. Handcrafted carpets, aprons, bedspreads, tableclothes are a popular purchase for visiting tourists.

Speaking of beliefs, the Zhuang have had several belief system over many generations. Initially, they believed in ancestor worship, totems, and propagation. Now, they belief in the power in Nature, inanimate natural phenomena such as high mountains and large trees, caves. And the sun, water, moon. Sacrifices are made to the gods to prevent natural disasters, and for blessings.